


Council

by Blue_Hood



Series: Unity [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Xavier Institute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 13:47:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18389648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: Tony Stark remembered his first meeting with the council fondly, being a member means that the enhanced community considers him a leader. The chairman was responsible for countless strides towards mutant rights, bringing about peace among the various factions.





	Council

Tony Stark remembered his first meeting with the council fondly, being a member means that the enhanced community considers him a leader. The chairman was responsible for countless strides towards mutant rights, bringing about peace among the various factions. Pyro, or John but never Mr. Allerdyce, he was the real living legend. Another sigh escaped his lips as his thoughts drifted to what was about to happen. The council knew all about the Avengers, one of Fury's power play is what they thought of this iteration. His sigh earned another glare from his passenger. The council is one group he won't lie to, even if the X-Men's rep wasn't a telepath. He respects them too much, they respect him more than most.

Nearing the gate, Tony slowed down “Remember to be respectful. You're a guest, our hosts invited me not you.” He didn't listen to the snarky response as he pulled up the driveway “We're late, follow me.”

Arriving in the meeting room, Tony took his seat “Sorry I’m late, Steve insisted on coming.”

John said “Not a problem, he can observe the proceedings.”

Steve asked “Who are you?”

John looked at him and smiled “Mr. Rogers, there’s something I’ve always wanted to ask you since I found out you were alive in modern day.”

Steve smiled back “Ask away.”

“Do you know how World War II ended?”

“The Allies won.”

“How did they win?”

Steve’s smile fell “By bombing two cities.”

“What country were these cities in?”

“Japan.”

John looked impressed “I see you know that much. Can you name three wars the US has been in since?”

“Uh, no.”

“What do you know about the Holocaust?”

“The what?”

“What happened to the Nazi empire after the Nazis lost the war?”

“The Allies freed the people.”

“Freed the people from what?”

“The Nazis.”

“What were the Nazis doing to the people?”

“Oppressing them.”

John thought of another tactic “What were Nazis?”

“Bullies.”

Everyone at the table stared at him, John said “The answer I was looking for was people but this is even more revealing. You think the Nazis were bullies?” Steve nodded. John sighed “I’m John Allerdyce, though I prefer Pyro. Erik Lehnsherr, on my left, was born in Germany about a decade after you were. Would you like to explain to him how the Nazis were bullies?”

“He knows.”

Erik sighed “Actually, I do not know how you can write off the deaths of millions as bullying. That would mean shooting my mother in the head in front of me was just a bully being a bully. I truly do not understand how the Nazis were mere bullies.”

Steve swallowed hard as Erik rolled up his sleeve and continued “When I was a child, these numbers were inked into my skin. Those so-called bullies decided I was nothing more than this number. The Holocaust, which you seem to be completely unaware of, was my childhood. Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it, Mr. Rogers.”

John said “If you’d like, we can arrange some history lessons here at the school but that is not what we are here to do today. We are here to have a meeting and you have invited yourself to observe. Speak out of turn again and we will have you removed.”

Steve stood quietly behind Tony as each council member went over recent events. A few votes were had but all Steve could think about was how much he didn’t know, how much was kept from him. A burst of fire nearly fallayed him before John got his attention, the fire disappeared “Mr. Rogers, would you like to stay here and learn or are you going to return with Mr. Stark?”

“I’d like to stay if that’s alright.”

“Of course but you will need to give SHIELD a cover story, lest they intrude and decide to Index our students.”

“Index?”

John explained, much less hostile than before, “SHIELD keeps files on people with powers, these files are called the Enhanced Index. It’s too much like registration for mutants so it's technically illegal here but the law didn’t stop them from holding Tony prisoner in his own home with the threat of tasing him until he drools into the carpet. For the record, using a taser like that on a man with a heart condition could be the same as putting him in the electric chair. We need a cover story for why you’re not at the Tower that won’t send SHIELD our way.” He glanced at Erik before continuing “If SHIELD tries to force their way in, we are prepared to use lethal force on them in defense of our people as is our legal right since this place was once raided by one Colonel William Stryker who wanted mutants to test a device meant to wipe us out.”

Steve nodded and looked to Tony “Ideas?”

Tony shrugged “It’s kind of hard to explain you’re indefinite absence. I don’t know how long you’ll be away and even if I did, I don’t think Fury would listen to me when I say leave him alone.”

John looked at the man in the wheelchair “I hate to suggest it but maybe we should have our telepath distract Fury so whatever flimsy excuse we can give will fly. I know that’s usually considered an abuse of power but what choice do we have if we want to avoid bloodshed.”

Steve had an idea “I could tell the truth, I’m taking a leave of absence to catch up.” He looked at Tony “When Fury approached me to help retrieve the Tesseract, he said I should be out seeing the world. We could say that I’m doing that, you’d have to back it up saying you’re funding the trip but it’s not lying and it doesn’t involve the school.”

Tony nodded “If we need to explain the timing, we can admit you just found out about the Holocaust. There are some museums dedicated to it. I could even fake records in case he’s stubborn enough to resist a telepathic nudge or he puts someone else on it before our telepath can nudge him.”

“If you can fake the records, why do you need to nudge him?”

Tony asked “Steve, do you know what a telepath is?” Hesitantly, he shook his head. “A telepath is someone who can sense, read, control and communicate through minds. Some say psychic but that also refers to a carnival fortune teller so telepath is a bit more precise term.”

“Oh.”

“The nudge will keep him from applying enough resources to see you’re not in Europe and you never got on a plane. I might ask someone to fly the plane to the airport but I need to think that through, who do I give a paid vacation to?”

“So we’re good, right?”

Tony looked at him “Oh, yeah, you’re good to go. If you’re staying here then we should get your things from the Tower, plus packing will make our story more believable.” Tony stood up “You cannot tell Romanoff or Barton the truth, they’re both loyal to SHIELD. Bruce understands, he spent some time here during the trial against Ross which was part of mutant rights. You can’t tell the agents or our cover is blown.”

“Okay but I’m not a good liar.”

“Leave the talking to me. If they ask, tell them to talk to me.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s go.”

Steve packed, said his goodbyes, dodged the spies like Tony said and took his leave back to the school with Bruce driving this time. Bruce was greeted warmly by a dark haired man, “Good to see you. How’s Betty?”

“She’s good. I’ve been keeping my distance because of SHIELD, using the safe channels John set up to explain.”

“I’m sorry you have to do that again.”

“Not a problem, Tony sent a message with mine when I moved in telling her he’d bankroll whatever project she came up with. It keeps her in one place and safe, easier to communicate if she’s not on the run.”

The young man nodded then noticed Steve and offered his hand “Bobby Drake.”

Steve shook it “Steve Rogers.”

“I know, you’re here for reintegration.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve done this before. Though last time we were only dealing with about 20 years. Logan and Victor lived through your time, so did Erik and Charles.”

“Who?”

From beside Bobby, John said “Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr were both beside me in the meeting. Logan and Victor Creed have healing factors that slow their aging considerably, they both fought in the American Civil War and look exactly like they did back then. You actually have a choice to make, you can stay here among the teachers or you can stay in the guest house across the parking lot. The difference is if you stay here, you’re liable to hear class bells. I’m not sure how your reintegration will work. Like Bobby said last time we were catching someone up on 20 not 70 years, all that took was a tablet and a friend to pass it on. I think Erik will want to tutor you on the decades you missed since you made an impression.”

“Okay. Quick question, what is a mutant?”

“You want the basic science or the really dumbed down version?”

“Uh, not science.”

John pulled out a lighter, lit it and moved the flame into his empty hand “When I was a kid, I developed the ability to do that. When Erik was a kid, he developed the ability to move metal the way I move fire. Each of us has something that sets us apart from normal humans, these things are called mutations. Mutants have mutations, we develop them naturally.”

“So you’re superhumans?”

“In simplest terms yes but you’re not a mutant because nature didn’t make you superhuman, Abraham Erskine did. So you wanna stay here or in the guest house?”

“Here.”

“Follow me.” John showed him to an empty room and knocked on the door across the hall “Carol?”

A blonde woman came out “Yeah?”

“This is Steve Rogers, he’s staying for his reintegration program.” Stepping to the side he introduced “This is Carol Danvers, she’s the last person we did reintegration for. She spent some time in space and we called her back as part of our united front against those who would play us against each other. She tutors mutants in the use of their powers and teaches some of the older students to pilot the jet.”

“Jet?”

“The Blackbird, it’s the X-Men equivalent of your Quinjet. After mutant rights passed, we got a bit lax about training future X-Men and had a few graduating classes that never set foot in the thing. Carol fills in the gaps, makes being actual teachers easier on the adult mutants.”

Steve offered his hand “Nice to meet you, Carol.”

“You too, Steve. I’ll take over the tour for John, he’s got a lot of responsibilities.”

John said “See ya around.” He left, going straight to his classroom. “Wow, that was fast,” he said as he faced his teammates “Uh, what’s going on?”

“What’s Steve Rogers doing here?” asked Kitty.

“He’s here for reintegration. He tagged along with Tony to the meeting and apparently had never heard of the Holocaust before today. Look, we both know what Carol’s research tells us. He’s a cadet not a captain, I’m a sergeant not a civilian, I know what that means. You need to remember that reintegration gives us the opportunity to open his eyes to the manipulation he’d otherwise fall for. This helps us towards unity among the Enhanced.”

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: At first I wanted to make Steve Rogers the asshole he was in the MCU but then again, I still included the fact that he forced his way into the meeting. I think my original idea demeaned Tony more than it demonized Steve and I like the idea of the two being fallible human beings instead of a jackass and a whipping boy. Plus, my previous stories carry the implications that Tony has a capable support system there to defend him against the kind of manipulations that he suffers at the hands of so-called allies. I think having Erik school Steve on his stupefying idea that the Nazis were bullies is a better idea than having him push the council to include him when he wasn’t invited just to demonstrate how he treats Tony in the day-to-day, as I said in this universe that treatment of Tony wouldn’t fly.


End file.
